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The long and the short of golf
Focusing on real improvement
Mark Tessier
October 11, 2024
Anyone who has played golf with me knows that I love to hit balls. I love working on the range.
What I don’t love doing is grinding on the practice green. And I have lots of “good” reasons.
“My back gets sore when I work on my short game.”
“I’ve been putting great lately and don’t want to mess with it.”
“I get on the practice green before most rounds, and I find my feels there pretty quickly.”
What I don’t say is something that’s painfully obvious to everyone I play with: my short game sucks.
This season I’ve limited my big miss (the dreaded duck hook) by taking lessons with Jakob Montemurro, a professional golfer who has played on the Canadian tour and caddied on the Champions Tour. He continues to compete in the US during the winter months.
Jakob helped me with setup, posture and more. As a result, I’m hitting the ball far better than before. I’ve even added a fade to my arsenal.
I signed up for three lessons with Jakob and after the second he asked if I wanted to concentrate on short game during our last session.
“My short game’s pretty solid, Jakob,” I lied. “Let’s continue to work on improving my irons.”
I play regularly with a gentleman who hits his driver 30 yards shorter than me. I routinely use an 8-iron where he hits a 6.
But his short game is amazing. He gets up and down more than anyone I know. He makes nearly every putt inside 10 feet. And at 78, he’s shot his age or better at least three times this summer.
Those short game skills are what I need and want to add to my game. Hitting a great drive and a solid approach isn’t much comfort after you’ve three-putted or flubbed yet another chip.
So, I’m going to concentrate on that aspect of the game from here on out. You heard it here first.
In this issue
The 4 trail elbow positions
Fairway woods – Stop topping your 3-wood
Wedges - Must-do tips for senior golfers
Putting - Shoot free throws to develop feel on greens
The 4 trail elbow positions
Alistair Davies Golf shows us four key positions in the golf swing that will help us play easy and effortless golf.
These positions involve the trail arm elbow. If you’re right-handed, that’s your right arm.
The four elbow positions he wants us to know and rehearse in slow motion, are:
Dumbbell position at address
Elbow folds under the shoulder when hands are at hip height in backswing
Elbow revisits the under shoulder position on the downswing
Post impact, elbow is inside the shoulder line
Alistair wants to practice these positions on the range and at home during the off season. With enough repetition, he promises that we will improve our ball striking and shoot lower scores.
I believe him.
Fairway woods – Stop topping your 3-wood
Wedges - Must-do tips for senior golfers
Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@USGOLFTVshow
Putting - Shoot free throws to develop feel on greens
Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@chasingscratch
